So today, we decided we were going swimming. There are no pools really close, but there are three that aren't too far away. At the Mt. Si Community Pool, an indoor pool, the staff is really sweet. Last year, the boys took lessons there and high school kids taught them, nice high school kids. We always see people we know at the Mt. Si Pool. The building is large and made to look like a log cabin and has a great view across the soccer fields of it's namesake, Mt. Si. The boys have to swim the length of the small pool to be allowed in the deep end. This is good practice for them because they'll be going to Cub Scout camp in three weeks and need the practice.
We could also have gone to the Bellevue Aquatics Center, another indoor pool. It has two pools, one warm and one cooler. The warm pool is fairly shallow and small and is frequently used for physical therapy. I think it's really good for the boys to see people who need some extra help, along with those with disabilities who manage quite well on their own. The cooler pool is Olympic-sized and has a large and a small tube slide, a basketball hoop, and a large diving area. The boys have to swim the length of the pool to be allowed to go off the diving boards. They both want that privilege, so they're usually willing. I don't know if you see the drift here, but I like them to be challenged as much as possible during the summer if they aren't taking lessons. I figure that knowing how to swim is a necessity, like learning to read and do math.
The pool we went to today was the Mountlake Terrace Community Pool. There wasn't a swim test, but I had them do as many laps as they could. Adrian still had to be reminded to kick his feet and use his arms for the one length he completed. He's only comfortable on his back and really needs another round of lessons. Nick swam back and forth the length of the pool three times. He likes the breast stroke and is very comfortable using the resting back stroke too. He won't have any problems passing the swim test at Cub Scout camp. I'm not sure Adrian will even try the test if we don't get more swim time in before then. I'm hoping to go twice next week and once more before we leave for camp.
The Mountlake Terrace Community Pool has a shallow toddler area with fountains and water toys that I wish I'd known about when Nickie was small. It has a deeper section with lanes and during the recreational swim, they put long floating mats across it to run out on like a slip-and-slide. There are lots of pool toys, balls, tubes, mats, and a basketball hoop. There's also a separate area called the river that has a current and is about the size of an average hotel pool. I like walking and swimming upstream in that one, but most of the kids are floating with the current, so I have to be careful. They also have a Jacuzzi and a sauna. The sauna felt great. I love how the pores of my skin stretch open. Also, there are no kids allowed in the sauna, so it's a way to get a relatively quiet moment.
In the Midwest, where I grew up, we never went to indoor pools to swim. I kind of miss outdoor pools in the summer, but they're always overcrowded around here. We went to one in Kirkland three years ago and the way they had it set up was that you waited in a long line, tried to swim for 45 minutes in an overcrowded pool, and then were dumped out to stand in a long line again for the next available 45 minute session. The sunshine wasn't worth it for that. With our cool wet weather ten months out of the year, there aren't many outdoor pools. Today, it's 66 degrees and drizzly. We're not even thinking about going to the lake to swim yet. The lakes here, usually being deep and fed by snow melt, are cold so we wait for the hot weather to set in before we go to one of the lakes.
Next week, it's supposed to get up to 76 degrees and I'm hoping that will feel warm enough to go to Wild Waves with their tube slides, wave pool, long lazy river, and great roller coaster. I bought us season passes for the summer. If we go three times, we more than cover the cost of the passes. Plus, there's a fun Haunted House on Halloween, so I know the passes will be worth it. The boys are getting to the age that they want to be more independent and I can trust them to be on their own part of the time while we're there.
I'm glad I decided to swim today instead of just watching the boys play or reading my book. I'm a water bug at heart and I needed the exercise.
Thanks for listening, jb
We could also have gone to the Bellevue Aquatics Center, another indoor pool. It has two pools, one warm and one cooler. The warm pool is fairly shallow and small and is frequently used for physical therapy. I think it's really good for the boys to see people who need some extra help, along with those with disabilities who manage quite well on their own. The cooler pool is Olympic-sized and has a large and a small tube slide, a basketball hoop, and a large diving area. The boys have to swim the length of the pool to be allowed to go off the diving boards. They both want that privilege, so they're usually willing. I don't know if you see the drift here, but I like them to be challenged as much as possible during the summer if they aren't taking lessons. I figure that knowing how to swim is a necessity, like learning to read and do math.
The pool we went to today was the Mountlake Terrace Community Pool. There wasn't a swim test, but I had them do as many laps as they could. Adrian still had to be reminded to kick his feet and use his arms for the one length he completed. He's only comfortable on his back and really needs another round of lessons. Nick swam back and forth the length of the pool three times. He likes the breast stroke and is very comfortable using the resting back stroke too. He won't have any problems passing the swim test at Cub Scout camp. I'm not sure Adrian will even try the test if we don't get more swim time in before then. I'm hoping to go twice next week and once more before we leave for camp.
The Mountlake Terrace Community Pool has a shallow toddler area with fountains and water toys that I wish I'd known about when Nickie was small. It has a deeper section with lanes and during the recreational swim, they put long floating mats across it to run out on like a slip-and-slide. There are lots of pool toys, balls, tubes, mats, and a basketball hoop. There's also a separate area called the river that has a current and is about the size of an average hotel pool. I like walking and swimming upstream in that one, but most of the kids are floating with the current, so I have to be careful. They also have a Jacuzzi and a sauna. The sauna felt great. I love how the pores of my skin stretch open. Also, there are no kids allowed in the sauna, so it's a way to get a relatively quiet moment.
In the Midwest, where I grew up, we never went to indoor pools to swim. I kind of miss outdoor pools in the summer, but they're always overcrowded around here. We went to one in Kirkland three years ago and the way they had it set up was that you waited in a long line, tried to swim for 45 minutes in an overcrowded pool, and then were dumped out to stand in a long line again for the next available 45 minute session. The sunshine wasn't worth it for that. With our cool wet weather ten months out of the year, there aren't many outdoor pools. Today, it's 66 degrees and drizzly. We're not even thinking about going to the lake to swim yet. The lakes here, usually being deep and fed by snow melt, are cold so we wait for the hot weather to set in before we go to one of the lakes.
Next week, it's supposed to get up to 76 degrees and I'm hoping that will feel warm enough to go to Wild Waves with their tube slides, wave pool, long lazy river, and great roller coaster. I bought us season passes for the summer. If we go three times, we more than cover the cost of the passes. Plus, there's a fun Haunted House on Halloween, so I know the passes will be worth it. The boys are getting to the age that they want to be more independent and I can trust them to be on their own part of the time while we're there.
I'm glad I decided to swim today instead of just watching the boys play or reading my book. I'm a water bug at heart and I needed the exercise.
Thanks for listening, jb
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